The UB takes part in two innovation projects funded by EIT Health to respond to COVID-19

The European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT Health) announced the resolution of an extraordinary call for innovation projects to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The UB takes part in two of these fifteen selected projects in Europe. In Spain, the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu lead three of these proposals. The selected initiatives in the call present innovative solutions to respond immediately to some of the challenges the health system and society are facing.

The European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT Health) announced the resolution of an extraordinary call for innovation projects to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The UB takes part in two of these fifteen selected projects in Europe. In Spain, the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu lead three of these proposals. The selected initiatives in the call present innovative solutions to respond immediately to some of the challenges the health system and society are facing.

The UB takes part in the CAR3D project through the Group Barcelona de…, built by teaching staff of the bachelor’s degree in Design of the Faculty of Fine Arts. Researchers will work on the design, development and validation of reusable masks and face protectors that fulfil the requirements of the European Union so that they can be available to be copied around Europe. The created EPI through the project will have no patent, so that local manufacturers can make this high-quality material. The objective is to use 3D print technologies to improve the making of necessary health material in pandemic management. The project, led by the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu de Barcelona, counts on the participation of the company BCN 3D, specialized on the making of 3D printers, the CIM UPC technological center and Sant Joan de Déu Foundation.

Moreover, researchers from the Department of Biomedicine of the UB, together with ISGlobal, take part in CoViproteHCt, a project coordinated by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) to develop and validate trials to identify health staff who develop an immune response to SARS-CoV-2.

Hospital Clínic de Barcelona leads two more initiatives whose aim is to create a center of virtual control to improve the treatment for COVID-19 patients and provide digital certificates to determine whether someone is immune to the virus, with a greater focus and priority regarding medical professionals and medical residents in geriatrics.